Battery powered handheld tools such as drills, saws, and vacuum cleaners, have proven very popular. Such a handheld tool usually has a rechargeable battery, referred to generally as a “power pack”, attached at some location on the tool. The power pack has to be periodically recharged. In order to recharge the power pack, the power pack is removed from the tool and placed in a recharging cradle. The recharging cradle is connected to a source of AC power. After the power pack is charged, the power pack is placed once again on the tool.
While battery powered handheld tools have proven very useful, they do have drawbacks. The power pack must be regularly recharged. If not, the tool will cease to function. Further, the power pack is usually plugged into an AC outlet separate from the handheld tool, which is inconvenient to a user and may lead to the loss of the power pack.
Finally, battery powered handheld tools are so popular that a person or entity may have, use, sell or rent several such tools. Often, each battery is unique for each handheld tool, requiring the person or entity to have a myriad number of recharging cradles, wires, and outlets.
A system for recharging battery powered handheld tools without the attendant problems is thus highly desirable.